Underbelly is a non-verbal somatic practice (embodied meditation) where we reclaim our slow in a fast and overwhelming world. Our dominant culture survives on speed, which keeps problematic and oppressive structures in place at the devastating cost of our well-being and planetary health. Underbelly is a somatic response to the loss of slowness in an increasingly urgent world drowning in climate collapse, AI threat, technological addiction, diseased capitalism and polarization, as well as historical nervous system trauma from continuing racism, colonialism, and patriarchy. It's time to acknowledge that we are standing at a terrifying precipice. Instead of pushing through injury or confusion, we cultivate a willingness to know things as they stand. It's time to surrender the rush and instead, show up with our heartbreak to encounter what is becoming. It's time to dismantle the hurry and have a conversation with the present moment.
This practice helps us explore the art of slowing down with ourselves, each other, and our current environment. There is space to metabolize our emotions, strengthen empathy and intuition, and develop an intimate relationship with our bodies and the world around us. We practice being in the questions themselves- listening and yielding to the intelligence of life without pushing, controlling, or fixing. Room is made for nuance, complexity and paradox. Our individuation and togetherness are felt in a group field—deepening our presence and attunement with one another, co-regulating our nervous systems, being held, witnessed, considered, and noticed exactly as we are. We meet ourselves AS IS, without grasping for more, escaping, transcending, or resigning. We re-learn what it is to be relational instead of transactional. To commune instead of consume. To be of service instead of self-serving. To rest back into more vastness and organicity, releasing tight circuits of linearity, programming and conditioning we've inherited or been entrained to. Spend quality time with your body, breath, and being. Come back to the foundations. Sink back into reverence. Voyage beneath the surface of our fast culture, and dive into a slow sanctuary for unearthing what is alive, tender, and honest for you in every moment.
This experience is not a solution, method, workshop or teaching of tools. It is not a business, ceremony, or ecstatic dance. It is a somatically driven experimental space that supports bodily intelligence, nervous system co-regulation, ample rest, and radical self/community care. We incrementally and progressively nourish the foundational fabric of how we relate, strengthen the connective tissue of our humanity, and allow ourselves to remember what we have forgotten. This work is not done through grand gestures or patterns of immediacy, but rather, subtle...steady...patient...little steps. Every Underbelly experience varies depending on what is alive in the group field at that given time. All movement forms are welcome (authentic/personal movement, sensory/somatic movement, contact (improv) inspired movement etc). So is resting, pausing, meditating, stillness, witnessing etc. Participants may explore being solo, in negative space (proximity without touch) or discovering connection with others through consensual energy and/or touch.
No prior experience necessary, just an open mind/heart.
Music: emotional, slow, deep, meditative, experimental, film scores, nature sounds, ambient, soulful, silent, and live. Listen on Spotify!
Underbelly: Nights of Nourishment (A new *even slower* offshoot in Marin! See schedule below)
This Underbelly experience will center more of the resting/Being body vs. the moving/dancing body. We will create an energetic orientation shift towards Slow Community Culture dedicated to rest, nourishment, stilling, peace of mind from the external/wired world, freely roaming within ourselves, and strengthening the connective tissue between us. We will have spacious, formless, non-verbal time on a cozy round floor with heartfelt/easeful music, no agenda, nothing to do or accomplish, elongated time to listen, reflect, imagine, sense, feel, and release ourselves from the endless stimulus, artificial hurry, excess noise, and addictive doings.
You are welcome (not required) to bring a journal, personal pillow/blanket, cup for tea, and other self care items. Wear comfortable clothing/socks. Therapeutic/energetic/subtle body stretching and tending is always welcome. Simply laying down for a while (eyes open or closed) is encouraged and valued.
This experience is limited to 20 people currently and the container closes 15 minutes after start time.
*Inspiration for Nights of Nourishment: The spirit of Underbelly is encouraging me to take a step in this direction after an east coast summer of experiencing what it's like to spaciously roam and wander (internally/externally) without a plan, schedule, agenda, or the artificial urgency of the wired world. The choice to travel in this way was partially a response to how trapped and hijacked I felt by addictive phone culture and how it would put me in a buzzing/busy/overloaded/distracted mental state, to the point where I didn't have energy to do much. All I wanted was to retreat in an attempt to regain some space and freedom. The normalization of constant information and notifications coming at us, long screen times, and our need to keep up with it all puts us in a severely tight, pressurized, overwhelmed, and lonely state....we become overfed and undernourished. The psychology of going from thing-to-thing-to-thing in our phones makes us go from thing-to-thing-to-thing in our lives, as we remain stuck in this inescapable exhaustion of going-going-going, with the dopamine hitting-hitting-hitting. It is causing a massive loss of energetic/mental/inner room and preventing deep, systemic rest and digestion. For years now I have felt that spaciousness is quietly and invisibly going extinct. And with this extinction comes the deterioration of our energetic connective tissue: the subtle human fabric that holds us together and contains our ability to commune, intuit, listen, attune, imagine, feel, empathize, and exist in presence.
When/Where:
Join the mailing list to get all the invites!
September 2024
The Alembic, Berkeley
2820 Seventh St.
2nd/4th Mondays: Sept 9th and 23rd
7-10pm
Haven, San Anselmo
780 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
1st/3rd/5th Mondays: beginning Sept 30
7-9:30pm
* This location hosts Underbelly: Nights of Nourishment. Read more above.
* Spots limited to 20 people at this time. Tickets here
* Follow parking instructions here
October 2024
The Alembic, Berkeley
2820 Seventh St.
2nd/4th Mondays: Oct 14th and 28th
7-10pm
Haven, San Anselmo
780 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
1st/3rd/5th Mondays: Oct 7th ONLY...with live music by Kiranjot Kaur
NO UB on Oct 21st
7-9:30pm
* This location hosts Underbelly: Nights of Nourishment. Read more above.
* Spots limited to 20 people at this time. Tickets coming soon
* Follow parking instructions here
Fairfax Community Church, Fairfax
2398 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
Saturday, October 12th
7-9:30pm
Special evening with live music by Daniel Labov Dunne and Kiah Abendroth
Soft Medicine, Sebastopol
186 N Main St.
Wednesday, October 30th
6-9pm
Additional Underbellys this Fall 2024:
~November 2-3: Collaboration with Revel (curated by Dance Meets Tantra), The Berkeley Alembic. Tickets here.
Insight Timer app/ YouTube sessions are now available! Follow, subscribe, share :)
What to Expect:
1) Arrival (container will CLOSE 15 min after start time, please show up on time! Leaving early is permitted): This is a time to unwind on your own and find your way into your body.
2) 40 minute facilitated opening (guided somatic meditation, helping the body have a conversation with the present moment)
3) Deep dive (a time for your own body to guide you while immersed in music)
4) Facilitated closing (closing meditation and simply being with one another in the quiet)
Contribution
~Sliding scale: $20 and up (pay at the door)
~$20 helps cover our rental space. Anything over is your contribution to those experiencing financial hardship and a donation to the facilitator. Give what allows you to feel generous, not contracted.
~If you are experiencing financial hardship, please let us know, no one will be turned away.
~Pre-pandemic passes no longer valid/no refunds.
~Ways to contribute:
1) Venmo: @amy-rogg (last 4 phone digits 0330). When sessions are at The Alembic, you'll pay them: @BerkeleyAlembic
2) Paypal: payment link here
3) Cash
4) Support us on Patreon
Covid Protocol:
~Please do not attend if you have been exposed or have symptoms.
~Rapid/antigen testing always encouraged.
~Mask as needed.
About the Creator:
Amy Rogg (she/her) is an activator and nurturer of the human spirit. She is half Taiwanese/half Jewish, born in Denver Colorado and raised mostly in the Bay Area. She is the conduit, creator, and facilitator of Underbelly: The Art of Slowing Down. Amy has a B.A. in television/film production, studied acting/improv in Los Angeles, and is currently training to become a clinical herbalist. She has taught yoga (E-RYT 500), meditation, and somatic/relational movement for over a decade.
Some of her inspirations: nature, Hakomi, Continuum, The Artist's Way, Movement Liberation, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Stephen Jenkinson, Gabor Maté, Paul Bergner, Heather Luna, Anna Halprin, Resmaa Menakem, Sarah Blondin, Bill Plotkin, Marc-André Leclerc, Jeong Kwan, Yat Malmgren, David Whyte, Qi Gong, Yoga, GAGA, Contact Improvisation/Underscore, Fusion/Microfusion, Open Floor, Soul Motion, Dancing Freedom, 5 Rhythms, Ecstatic Dance, romantic relationships, and her mama (in spirit).
Instagram: @amyrogg
Facebook page: here
Please read the Underbelly Code of Conduct and Logistics here
This practice helps us explore the art of slowing down with ourselves, each other, and our current environment. There is space to metabolize our emotions, strengthen empathy and intuition, and develop an intimate relationship with our bodies and the world around us. We practice being in the questions themselves- listening and yielding to the intelligence of life without pushing, controlling, or fixing. Room is made for nuance, complexity and paradox. Our individuation and togetherness are felt in a group field—deepening our presence and attunement with one another, co-regulating our nervous systems, being held, witnessed, considered, and noticed exactly as we are. We meet ourselves AS IS, without grasping for more, escaping, transcending, or resigning. We re-learn what it is to be relational instead of transactional. To commune instead of consume. To be of service instead of self-serving. To rest back into more vastness and organicity, releasing tight circuits of linearity, programming and conditioning we've inherited or been entrained to. Spend quality time with your body, breath, and being. Come back to the foundations. Sink back into reverence. Voyage beneath the surface of our fast culture, and dive into a slow sanctuary for unearthing what is alive, tender, and honest for you in every moment.
This experience is not a solution, method, workshop or teaching of tools. It is not a business, ceremony, or ecstatic dance. It is a somatically driven experimental space that supports bodily intelligence, nervous system co-regulation, ample rest, and radical self/community care. We incrementally and progressively nourish the foundational fabric of how we relate, strengthen the connective tissue of our humanity, and allow ourselves to remember what we have forgotten. This work is not done through grand gestures or patterns of immediacy, but rather, subtle...steady...patient...little steps. Every Underbelly experience varies depending on what is alive in the group field at that given time. All movement forms are welcome (authentic/personal movement, sensory/somatic movement, contact (improv) inspired movement etc). So is resting, pausing, meditating, stillness, witnessing etc. Participants may explore being solo, in negative space (proximity without touch) or discovering connection with others through consensual energy and/or touch.
No prior experience necessary, just an open mind/heart.
Music: emotional, slow, deep, meditative, experimental, film scores, nature sounds, ambient, soulful, silent, and live. Listen on Spotify!
Underbelly: Nights of Nourishment (A new *even slower* offshoot in Marin! See schedule below)
This Underbelly experience will center more of the resting/Being body vs. the moving/dancing body. We will create an energetic orientation shift towards Slow Community Culture dedicated to rest, nourishment, stilling, peace of mind from the external/wired world, freely roaming within ourselves, and strengthening the connective tissue between us. We will have spacious, formless, non-verbal time on a cozy round floor with heartfelt/easeful music, no agenda, nothing to do or accomplish, elongated time to listen, reflect, imagine, sense, feel, and release ourselves from the endless stimulus, artificial hurry, excess noise, and addictive doings.
You are welcome (not required) to bring a journal, personal pillow/blanket, cup for tea, and other self care items. Wear comfortable clothing/socks. Therapeutic/energetic/subtle body stretching and tending is always welcome. Simply laying down for a while (eyes open or closed) is encouraged and valued.
This experience is limited to 20 people currently and the container closes 15 minutes after start time.
*Inspiration for Nights of Nourishment: The spirit of Underbelly is encouraging me to take a step in this direction after an east coast summer of experiencing what it's like to spaciously roam and wander (internally/externally) without a plan, schedule, agenda, or the artificial urgency of the wired world. The choice to travel in this way was partially a response to how trapped and hijacked I felt by addictive phone culture and how it would put me in a buzzing/busy/overloaded/distracted mental state, to the point where I didn't have energy to do much. All I wanted was to retreat in an attempt to regain some space and freedom. The normalization of constant information and notifications coming at us, long screen times, and our need to keep up with it all puts us in a severely tight, pressurized, overwhelmed, and lonely state....we become overfed and undernourished. The psychology of going from thing-to-thing-to-thing in our phones makes us go from thing-to-thing-to-thing in our lives, as we remain stuck in this inescapable exhaustion of going-going-going, with the dopamine hitting-hitting-hitting. It is causing a massive loss of energetic/mental/inner room and preventing deep, systemic rest and digestion. For years now I have felt that spaciousness is quietly and invisibly going extinct. And with this extinction comes the deterioration of our energetic connective tissue: the subtle human fabric that holds us together and contains our ability to commune, intuit, listen, attune, imagine, feel, empathize, and exist in presence.
When/Where:
Join the mailing list to get all the invites!
September 2024
The Alembic, Berkeley
2820 Seventh St.
2nd/4th Mondays: Sept 9th and 23rd
7-10pm
Haven, San Anselmo
780 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
1st/3rd/5th Mondays: beginning Sept 30
7-9:30pm
* This location hosts Underbelly: Nights of Nourishment. Read more above.
* Spots limited to 20 people at this time. Tickets here
* Follow parking instructions here
October 2024
The Alembic, Berkeley
2820 Seventh St.
2nd/4th Mondays: Oct 14th and 28th
7-10pm
Haven, San Anselmo
780 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
1st/3rd/5th Mondays: Oct 7th ONLY...with live music by Kiranjot Kaur
NO UB on Oct 21st
7-9:30pm
* This location hosts Underbelly: Nights of Nourishment. Read more above.
* Spots limited to 20 people at this time. Tickets coming soon
* Follow parking instructions here
Fairfax Community Church, Fairfax
2398 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
Saturday, October 12th
7-9:30pm
Special evening with live music by Daniel Labov Dunne and Kiah Abendroth
Soft Medicine, Sebastopol
186 N Main St.
Wednesday, October 30th
6-9pm
Additional Underbellys this Fall 2024:
~November 2-3: Collaboration with Revel (curated by Dance Meets Tantra), The Berkeley Alembic. Tickets here.
Insight Timer app/ YouTube sessions are now available! Follow, subscribe, share :)
What to Expect:
1) Arrival (container will CLOSE 15 min after start time, please show up on time! Leaving early is permitted): This is a time to unwind on your own and find your way into your body.
2) 40 minute facilitated opening (guided somatic meditation, helping the body have a conversation with the present moment)
3) Deep dive (a time for your own body to guide you while immersed in music)
4) Facilitated closing (closing meditation and simply being with one another in the quiet)
Contribution
~Sliding scale: $20 and up (pay at the door)
~$20 helps cover our rental space. Anything over is your contribution to those experiencing financial hardship and a donation to the facilitator. Give what allows you to feel generous, not contracted.
~If you are experiencing financial hardship, please let us know, no one will be turned away.
~Pre-pandemic passes no longer valid/no refunds.
~Ways to contribute:
1) Venmo: @amy-rogg (last 4 phone digits 0330). When sessions are at The Alembic, you'll pay them: @BerkeleyAlembic
2) Paypal: payment link here
3) Cash
4) Support us on Patreon
Covid Protocol:
~Please do not attend if you have been exposed or have symptoms.
~Rapid/antigen testing always encouraged.
~Mask as needed.
About the Creator:
Amy Rogg (she/her) is an activator and nurturer of the human spirit. She is half Taiwanese/half Jewish, born in Denver Colorado and raised mostly in the Bay Area. She is the conduit, creator, and facilitator of Underbelly: The Art of Slowing Down. Amy has a B.A. in television/film production, studied acting/improv in Los Angeles, and is currently training to become a clinical herbalist. She has taught yoga (E-RYT 500), meditation, and somatic/relational movement for over a decade.
Some of her inspirations: nature, Hakomi, Continuum, The Artist's Way, Movement Liberation, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Stephen Jenkinson, Gabor Maté, Paul Bergner, Heather Luna, Anna Halprin, Resmaa Menakem, Sarah Blondin, Bill Plotkin, Marc-André Leclerc, Jeong Kwan, Yat Malmgren, David Whyte, Qi Gong, Yoga, GAGA, Contact Improvisation/Underscore, Fusion/Microfusion, Open Floor, Soul Motion, Dancing Freedom, 5 Rhythms, Ecstatic Dance, romantic relationships, and her mama (in spirit).
Instagram: @amyrogg
Facebook page: here
Please read the Underbelly Code of Conduct and Logistics here